TV exec sues over withdrawn child sex abuse case

Anthony Mccartney AP Entertainment Writer

Posted:
06/27/2014 04:58:43 PM MDT

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FILE - In this April 21, 2014 file photo, plaintiff Michael Egan III, center, 31, his mother Bonnie Mound, left, and attorney Jeff Herman take questions from the media during a news conference in Beverly Hills, Calif. Garth Ancier filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit on Friday, June 27, 2014, against Egan and two lawyers who filed the sex abuse lawsuit on his behalf. Ancier, who has been a high-level executive for NBC, Fox and other television networks, states in his lawsuit that Egan knew his abuse claims were false and the case never should have been filed. (AP Photo/Nick Ut , file)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former network TV executive filed a malicious-prosecution lawsuit against a former aspiring actor who recently withdrew a lawsuit that accused the executive of sexually abusing him in the late 1990s.

Garth Ancier, who was a high-ranking executive at the NBC, Fox and WB networks, filed his lawsuit in a federal court in Honolulu two days after Michael Egan III voluntarily dismissed his case. The lawsuit also names two of Egan's attorneys, Jeff Herman, of Florida, and Mark Gallagher, of Hawaii.

Ancier lawsuit states his reputation was damaged by Egan's claims that he was sexually molested by the executive and other entertainment industry figures, including "X-Men" director Bryan Singer, on a trip to Hawaii in 1999 when he was 17 years old. Ancier and Singer have denied being in Hawaii at the time Egan says he was abused.

Egan's attorneys did not respond to requests by Ancier's attorneys to produce evidence that supported the sex abuse lawsuit, the new case states. Ancier was in Los Angeles and New York developing lineups of shows for NBC at the time Egan claims he was abused. His lawyer, Louise Ann Fernandez, has said Ancier never visited the estate in Hawaii where Egan claimed he was abused.

"This fabrication of facts in Hawaii that never took place, to create jurisdiction in a forum where there was none and to drum up more business for Mr. Egan's counsel, requires that defendants be held to account for malicious prosecution and abuse of process," the lawsuit states.

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Ancier's complaint states he has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars defending himself against Egan's claims and is seeking punitive damages.

"Mike Egan maintains that he was sexually abused by Garth Ancier in both Hawaii and California. Prior to filing the case in Hawaii, Mike was examined by a psychologist who made findings that supports Mike's claims," Herman wrote in an email. "This is nothing more than an attempt to silence victims."

Egan sued Ancier, Singer and two other entertainment industry figures in May, just days before a law that extended the statute of limitations on sex-abuse lawsuits in Hawaii expired.

Egan withdrew the lawsuit against Ancier on Wednesday, three weeks after he withdrew a similar suit against David Neuman, another former TV executive. Singer has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against him.

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